Alyson of Bathe's feeble attempt at completing the 1001 books challenge. You would think a former English major would have a better start than this. For the Reading.
Ha, I've read about 90 on the list, but only 28 of those post-1900.
It's not a terrible list, but it's also not quite a representative list in any sense, it's just a collection of some pretty good, some just OK, novels.
"If the national mental illness of the United States is megalomania, that of Canada is paranoid schizophrenia."
- Margaret Atwood
Oh it's absolutely not totally representative. I mean, how could you even make a list that would satisfy every literary critic/theorist?
I still think it's fairly good guide to influential works, but of course there are neglected texts. My main criticism is that's is so Western; very biased.
Alyson of Bathe's feeble attempt at completing the 1001 books challenge. You would think a former English major would have a better start than this. For the Reading.
September - December 2012:
(#156) The English Patient, Michael Ondaatje
(#552) Cry, the Beloved Country, Alan Paton
(#208) Nervous Conditions, Tsitsi Dangarembga
(#150) A Heart So White, Javier Marias
(#158) The Butcher Boy, Patrick McCabe
(#198) The Book of Evidence, John Banville
(#498) The Trusting and the Maimed, James Plunkett
(#368) Mercier et Camier, Samuel Beckett
I've made a more thorough accounting, my total is 174 books.
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Currently reading: David Copperfield (Charles Dickens)
"He lives most gaily who knows best how to deceive himself. Ha-ha!"
- CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
Well, it certainly is a collection of novels, which makes it rather boring. Filling 1000 must read novels is merely an abuse of time. There are other forms of literary art out there. Then again, I am one of those few who reads very few plays, so I cannot argue too much.